Finding the Original
by doitsuatthedisco
Summary: Jay Walker's ordinary student life was turned around when he rescued an ownerless android from a violent protest. Now the boy's in way over his head as the two begin to discover some unsettling things behind everyone's favourite technology company, Borg Industries, and just how the android is connected to it.
1. The Android in the Park

The pale sun shone down on Ninjago City, making for a lovely spring day. It was morning break at Wu's Academy, and student Jay Walker was on his way to Chen's Noodle House to grab the usual morning snacks for himself and his friends. As he exited the school, he counted the money given to him for the third time, making sure yet again that he had enough for everything. He hated it when it was his turn to do this. He didn't say it to the others, but it just made him think of how much better off they were than him. It also took ages to get to Chen's, unless you could cut through the park, and carrying the food for the four boys was tiring.

Jay stopped dead as he looked up to cross the road and caught sight of the crowd in the park. He'd have to take the long way around to Chen's today. The park was full, not to mention rowdy. Before he turned to walk along the pavement, one of the signs someone had grabbed his attention. It was another anti-android protest. He should have known. They were getting more and more common these days, as Borg Industries was making more and more of them for different purposes.

It looked like this one was getting aggressive, too - a smaller crowd converged within the protest, screaming and... were they getting violent?!

It was definitely better to take the long way around to Chen's, Jay decided, gulping in nervousness. He didn't want to get involved. Hopefully he'd misread the situation. And if they _were_ getting violent, he was only seventeen, and pretty scrawny - some of those protesters were big and burly. He had the tendency to say things without thinking (there was a reason his friends called him Motormouth) and if he said the wrong thing to the wrong ear... well... his friends probably wouldn't get their food, that's for sure.

Jay arrived at the restaurant almost ten minutes later to find it pretty busy. He was dismayed, but not surprised. It _was_ one of the most popular places in the city. He began to worry that he might not be able to make it back to school in time for his next class when his attention was called to the counter.

"Jay!" The girl calling him over was Skylor Chen, a fellow classmate (and his friend Kai's crush). He went up to the counter, much to the annoyance of the people in line. "Kai texted me your guys' order a while ago," Skylor continued with a smile. "It's being prepared riiight as we speak."

"Wh - is that even allowed?!" Jay exclaimed, taken aback. He hoped no one else had heard that.

Skylor shrugged. "Who cares? If Dad wants me here during my break from school, I can do whatever the hell I want." She held out her hand, palm upwards.

"That's fair," he laughed. Skylor cleared her throat and Jay realised that she was holding out her hand for the money. Of course. Idiot. Why else would she be doing that? He scrambled to get the money from his jacket pocket and placed it in her hand. In the process, some coins fell to the counter and he wanted the floor to swallow him whole as he heard the people around him grumble. This situation was already so embarrassing and awkward and now he looked like an idiot, too. Skylor laughed and assured him everything was fine; she told him to take a seat and that she'd call him up again when his order was ready.

He called out thanks as he turned to search for an empty table. He took one of the very few available seats, cramped in a corner of the restaurant. Another reason he hated it when it was his turn to get food. There was always so many people... it made him feel awkward at the least. The others were much better around people than he was. He played a game on his phone to pass the time, and a few minutes later, when the order was ready, it took Skylor several moments and the android waiter passing by tapping him on the shoulder to get the boy's attention.

Jay apologised profusely, gritting his teeth as he grabbed the two plastic bags from her. God they were heavy. Ugh, why didn't Cole just do this? He was way stronger than Jay was - stronger than any of their friends were, actually. He dreaded the thought of having to carry all the food back the long way to school, but upon stepping out of Chen's and back into the sunlight, he saw that the park had cleared out. The police had probably gotten involved in the protest, telling everyone to leave, or the protesters had gotten bored. Protests at random places such as this tended to be a spur-of-the-moment thing that a few people would start and others would join. Planned ones tended to be outside the Borg Industries headquarters or outside Borg Stores. Those protests tended to last _hours_.

The park was in between Chen's and the school - all he'd have to do was cross two roads and walk through the park. Jay liked that area, as far as the outdoors went. He was more of an inside person, but he had to give whoever planned out the park some credit. The plants were well-manicured, the structures fit in well and were well looked after, and the flowers smelt _amazing_.

One time, Jay had picked one of the flowers, a red one that he didn't know the name of, planning on giving it to a girl he liked - Nya, Kai's younger sister. Kai intercepted the gift before Jay could give it to her, however. This was back when Jay first moved to the school, as a fourteen-year-old. Kai used to be a very overprotective brother, but as he grew up he had chilled out a bit. Jay still really liked Nya - she was in some of the same clubs as him. Perhaps he could try again...

As Jay got further into the now desolate area, he spotted someone laying on the floor. That wasn't normal. Jay picked up the pace, wanting to make sure the person was okay. His mind was flashing back to seeing the angry protesters - maybe things _had_ gotten violent. He felt sick to his stomach, he should have intervened...

"H-hey, buddy," Jay called as he got closer to the person, kneeling down beside them. No response. "You... okay?" Now that Jay was closer, he could tell that the person was a guy, and... he couldn't hear breathing. No breathing. Oh god. The guy looked around his age; Jay hoped he wasn't dead, he really, _really_ hoped he wasn't dead. He placed his hand lightly on the boy's neck - the cacophony of his racing thoughts were suddenly silenced.

No pulse.

Jay was panicking. Was he _actually_ dead?! Had he just touched a dead body?! Was there a dead person in the park?! His breathing picked up to a point where he became light-headed, and in his confusion he had accidentally slipped and pressed down harder on the guy's neck. Jay yelped and withdrew his hand - that didn't feel normal. He hadn't felt any tendons or bones or anything. It was solid. Sure, the pale skin felt soft, but underneath, it was hard.

An android.

The panic flowed out of him as he let out a long, heavy sigh. Thank goodness. It must have gotten caught up in the protest, poor thing. Jay leant in closer; he couldn't hear the quiet whirring of machinery he was used to. He quickly scanned the park - still, no one was around. Surely the android's owner would be nearby? Unless it was out on an errand, or it was a service android. He took it's left hand and looked at it's inner wrist - no identification. No name, no model number, no owner. That was odd. It was the law that all androids must have their model number and owner (whether that be a person or a group, like a business) in case something happened. And Borg Industries, the company that created and distributed the androids, always made sure to follow this rule. Jay couldn't just leave it out here... if it was seen by a police officer or something, without the requirements and shut down like this, unable to explain itself, it was likely to be taken away and either scrapped or repurposed.

Screw it.

He picked up the android, placing it over his shoulder. Jay was quite the tinkerer and knew his way around robotics - he was at Wu's Academy on a scholarship for technological science he won - he could probably fix it up. The thought of leaving it there to be found by someone else felt... incredibly wrong. Even though he was carrying a whole lot more weight now, he pushed onwards through the park with newfound determination.

As soon as Jay finally got back to the school, he felt the need to stay out of sight as he made his way through the hallways to his dormitory. He wasn't sure if he'd get in trouble or not, but he didn't want to risk it. Fortunately, he didn't have to find out, because he made it to his dormitory without an issue. Everyone was outside enjoying the sun, he assumed. He stashed the android under his bed, untucking the top blanket so that it draped down to the floor, concealing it. He apologised quietly as he left the room. He had to find his friends - time was running out before they had to get to their next class and the food was getting cold. He had a free period after Engineering - he'd tend to the android then.

As expected, Kai and Cole were varying levels of angry when Jay approached the group. Lloyd called out a weak hello as Cole jumped up from his spot on the grass. He ran up to Jay and searched the bags for his food. When asked what took him so long, Jay used the protest as his excuse - not mentioning that it had ended by the time he left Chen's. They bought it and Lloyd took the bags and spread the food out in the middle of their little circle on the grass. It felt good to finally be sitting down again.

"So Jay, How big was this protest?" Kai asked in between mouthfuls of food. You could almost feel everyone else in the group roll their eyes.

"It was uh, at least forty people? I guess? I dunno, I avoided it, Kai..."

"If I knew it was happening, I would've joined in..." he mumbled, poking at his food, his mood suddenly sour. Cole almost choked at that statement.

"And missed stuff from Chen's? _Chen's_?!" he shouted, staring wide-eyed at his spiky-haired friend. "Jeez - come on, we know you hate androids and everything, but do you really hate them so much you'd miss _heaven in the form of food_?"

Kai put his container of food in his lap, folding his arms. "It's easy for you to take this stuff lightly, Cole. Your dad is a dancer, or a musician, or whatever-"

"He's part of-"

"Androids are driving my parents out of business," he finished, not giving Cole a chance to cut in.

"Wait, wouldn't they be good for the metal industry? Since they're made out of metal...?" Lloyd asked.

"Not when they use them as workers!" Kai shouted. Then he, as well as Cole, screamed. In his annoyance, he'd gotten himself worked up and he'd knocked his food all over himself. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

"Good thing it's your turn to do laundry for us this week," Jay laughed, and Cole snorted, a smirk on his face. Jay hoped his friends hadn't noticed he'd been quieter than usual. He'd been thinking this whole time. "And what if Skylor had seen you at the protest? You know she appreciates the help at the restaurant since he dad has her there as much as he can."

Kai couldn't think of anything to say back. He was a hothead - he'd calm down by lunch, so Jay wasn't too worried. When he'd first met him, he was wary of his temper but now he learnt that Kai would cool down eventually, unless something was really wrong. The four boys continued their banter until the bell rang and they went their separate ways to their classes.


	2. A Promise Made

_**(Whoops, this is horrifically late... sorry, I've been low on motivation. BUT HERE IT IS, THE NEXT CHAPTER! :D Please let me know what you think!)**_

It wasn't until about fifteen minutes into Engineering that Jay realised something, and began to panic. He'd put the android away in his dorm, which he shared with Kai. Kai, who was very concerned with his image. Kai, who would probably go and find any excuse to change into a clean uniform. Kai, who _hated_ _androids_. What if he found the android? How would he react? He wouldn't get Jay into trouble, would he? Sure, they gave each other crap sometimes - okay, most of the time - but they were friends.. he... he wouldn't _destroy_ the android?!

His panicked train of thought was interrupted in a crash by a tap on his shoulder that caused him to nearly jump out of his skin.

"Ah - sorry, sorry Jay," the boy next to him said, eyebrows raised. "Your finger-tapping was just very distracting. And annoying."

"S-sorry, Karlof," Jay stuttered, folding his arms around himself instead of having them resting on the desk. He had a tendency to tap his fingers or shake his foot when he was nervous. It was an involuntary thing; he didn't _choose_ to do it. Poor Karlof had to deal with that a lot, as he was assigned a seat next to Jay.

Igor Karlof was tall, well-built and had a strong accent (and personality), which intimidated his small, wiry classmate a lot. Jay felt bad about this, because despite the fact he was a little scary, Karlof was actually a really nice guy.

"What is on your mind?"

"I'm uh, just... just worried."

"But you are worried all of the time, almost."

Jay laughed and brushed it off, hoping his classmate would just accept it as nothing. It's not like he and Karlof were particularly close, he wouldn't expect Jay to confide in him.

Try as he might in paying attention to what the teacher was saying, soon enough everything that reached Jay's ears sounded like a muffled blur, like cotton balls were stuffed in his ears. He couldn't focus anymore. He knew this was just nervousness; he'd been fine in Literature and Maths before morning break, so this wasn't an illness affecting him.

"Mr Walker." The teacher's harsh voice ripped through his thoughts, and he had to stop himself from letting out a small scream.

"Y-yes, sir?" Jay asked, an awkward smile falling upon his face; a flimsy mask.

"Your homework, please."

"Oh, oh yeah!" He flipped through his binder to find the homework assigned last lesson; something about the importance of having the correct measurements in blueprints or something like that. He had finished it in a blur, and combining that with his current state of mind, he barely remembered anything of it. The teacher thanked him and moved on, collecting Karlof's homework and then everyone else in their row.

As time went on and class was drawing to a close, the ticking of the clock hanging above the door and the scratching of pens throughout the classroom grew louder and louder as Jay waited to be let go. His free period was next, he needed this to be over...

After what seemed like an eternity, the bell chimed. Jay hurried and packed his things, bolting out of the classroom and darting through the throng of students in the halls making their way to their next classes. He didn't even hear Cole calling out to him as he ran past. The black-haired boy found that odd; he and Jay were best friends, he wouldn't ignore him for no reason...

Jay made it to his dorm and quickly surveyed the room. It looked like the only things that had been disturbed since his last visit were in Kai's corner of the room; he hadn't even bothered to put his soiled shirt in their laundry basket. Not like Jay had any place to judge him; he'd been known to leave his clothes (even his underwear) on the floor after getting changed as well. Lloyd and Cole were constantly on their backs about being cleaner. The message never sunk in.

With a sigh of relief, Jay knelt by his bed and gently pulled the android out from underneath it. He felt guilty about leaving it there, under the bed as if it were a discarded toy, but where else was he supposed to hide it? He shared a closet with Cole. What if he'd come into the room? He shook his head, trying to clear his mind like the contents of an Etch-a-Sketch. It was time to look into repairing the poor thing.

He sat the android up against the side of the bed and found himself admiring the craftsmanship. Its skin was pale, and its expression, with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, made it look like it was resting peacefully, instead of what had actually just happened to it. There was no visible damage to its handsome face; its white-blonde hair was an absolute mess, though. Jay picked out little twigs and bits of grass from it while he pondered what to do. Its hair was soft. Really soft.

Did it even still work? Sure, there was no visible damage but there could be a ton of internal damages... He tapped the side of its head gently, hoping that all it needed was a little nudge. It began to fall to the side before he caught it. That motion had moved the collar of its shirt, revealing to Jay a panel on its chest.

Well. This was awkward.

Cringing, Jay lifted up its shirt, thankful it was a male-based android, and opened up the panel. Everything looked normal - oh no, wait, there was something out of place, it seemed. A round disc-looking thing that was kind of glowing. He was mesmerised by it; he'd never seen anything of the sort before in his life. He didn't even know what material it was made out of. He slid it back into the hollow circle that matched its size, jumping back when the sudden whirring of machinery startled him.

Had - had he done it? He sat back and watched as the android's eyes fluttered open, and it began to look around, confused.

"Yes!" Jay shouted, pumping his fist in the air. This was _way_ better than the time he won that Fritz Donnegan arcade game championship. He bit his lip when the android recoiled, ice blue eyes staring at him with... fear? Was that really a look of _fear_ in an android? "Oh - sorry, buddy. I'm just glad I got you working again." He lowered his fist, perhaps the android thought he was going to hit it, like the protesters. "I... I _did_ get you working properly again, right?"

The android didn't answer right away, but sat still, as if it were deep in thought. He assumed it was doing a diagnostics test.

"Yes. It seems that my power source had merely been knocked out of place somehow." So that's what the glowy disc thing was. "But... my memory systems seem to have been a bit affected."

"Oh," Jay sighed, his heart sinking as his euphoria flew down the drain. "I don't know how I can help with that, sorry. I'm only good at building and fixing, not programming stuff... What do you remember? Is it a lot, or...?"

The android closed its chest panel and pulled its shirt back down, furrowing its brow. "My name is... Zane. I... have a father, but... I... I cannot remember who he is. And there is someone else..." It began to look upset. "Nothing else."

"Hey, hey, hey," Jay muttered, touching its shoulder gently. For a moment, he forgot he was talking to an android, not an actual person. Its emotions were so _real_... "I'll try my best to help you, okay? Is that okay? I don't know how, but I can find out somehow. Maybe... maybe your memories are backed up? Could that be possible?"

"That does sound like it could be a possibility. Thank you for all your kindness, um..."

There was a long pause. Then, feeling dumb, Jay realised what the android - what Zane wanted.

"OH! Sorry, I'm Jay. I'm don't worry about it, Zane-"

Jay's heart stopped when he heard loud footsteps; it sounded like someone was barrelling down the hallway.

"Zane," Jay whispered, standing up and grabbing his phone off his nightstand. "Get under the bed and don't make a sound."

"What?"

"Trust me!"

The footsteps reached the door and Zane scurried under the bed, making sure the draping blankets were hiding him from view. Jay raised his phone to his ear just as Kai came barging into the room.

"Jeez, Kai, can you be quiet? Sorry, Mum, it was just Kai being a loud idiot."

"Hey, I forgot my USB, okay? Mr Garland is making us do our dumb PDHPE presentation today and I'm pretty sure Chamille will legit kill me if I'm late. HI MRS WALKER" Kai shouted over his shoulder as he looked through the drawers of his own nightstand. "CAN YOU PLEASE BRING US SOME MORE CRUMB CAKE THIS WEEKEND?!"

Jay rolled his eyes. "She says she'll see what she can do; she and Dad are kinda busy this week. Now hurry up, don't wanna ruin the presentation that you _totally_ helped out with."

"I did too work on it!" Kai shouted defensively, whirling around to face his friend. "I'm the one who put the slideshow together!"

"Yeah, while Griffin and Chamille did all the actual research, and the writing, and the wording for the presentation-"

"Just... just shut up, Jay."

A few moments later, Kai found his USB and bolted back out of the room like a hurricane. Jay sighed and put down his phone. When had his heart started pounding like crazy? Thank goodness his mother called him a lot; he didn't know how believable that would have been otherwise. He plopped down onto the bed, trying to steady his heart rate. That was too close.

"You can come out now, Zane."

"Jay, you have a... very interesting friend," Zane commented, crawling out from under the bed, wiping some dust off of its white shirt as it stood up.

"Eeeh, that's one way of describing him."

"Why did I need to hide?" Zane asked, sitting on the bed beside Jay, looking at him intently.

Jay didn't know how to answer this question. Well... he _did_ , but not in a nice way. He didn't want Zane to feel bad. Judging by the initial fear it had shown, it seemed it had a wider range of emotions than the basic ones most androids had. It must be a prototype of some kind... that would explain the lack of registration.

"I just... um... well, he was supposed to be in class, so I wouldn't have had time to explain why you were here..."

"You're lying, Jay."

"WHAT?! How can you tell?"

"Well, your heart rate is incredibly high and you were speaking in a slightly higher pitch than you have been during the time I've been speaking with you."

"You picked up on that in just a few seconds? Holy crap." Zane smiled. Jay didn't really know what to say, still in awe. "Wow, you must be some amazing prototype."

"Pardon?"

"Well... you're so... _perfect_. You don't just look more human than any other android I've seen - they're mostly in the uncanny valley - but you act like it too. I've never seen an android who shows as much emotion as you." With a laugh, he added, "Borg Industries is really stepping up their game."

"Borg Industries?"

"Yeah? They make the best androids - actually they're the only company that makes them, but you know tha... oh. Right. Your memory..."

"While the name 'Borg' does sound somewhat familiar, I do not think I have anything to do with them. I may not remember much, but I remember that my father created me."

Jay had totally forgotten that Zane had mentioned something about having a father in all the Kai chaos. "Oh yeah, I was wondering what you meant by that... _why_ do you call him that?"

"Well... not only did he create me, but he treats me like a son. I remember... I remember him saying blood does not make on a relative, it is the bond they share."

Jay smiled. "I'm glad you think that way, not many people do."

"You agree?"

"Of course!" The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. Only Cole knew this, but Zane was so easy to talk to... "I'm adopted. And I don't know who my birth parents are, but I don't really care. My adoptive parents are more my family than them. Sure, we're really poor, and they're really embarrassing sometimes, but... we're a family." Jay realised what he'd said, and tried to go back to an earlier topic. "Hey, uh, do you remember what you were doing in the park? Before I brought you back online?"

Zane thought for a moment, before giving a vague description of being at the park and getting swamped by angry, violent people. Jay's guilt returned - that _had_ been the small group converging within the protest. He could have helped Zane earlier, if he hadn't been such a wuss...

"Should we get you back to your father? Maybe he can help with your memory - plus, he's probably super worried. What were you doing in the park, anyway?"

"I was... I... I am not sure. I believe I was searching for someone."

"So... you were lost?"

"I suppose so," Zane sighed.

"Well... where do you live? Maybe once all my classes are done for the day, I can help you get back home?"

"I..." Zane trailed off, going totally silent for almost a minute. "Jay... I barely remember anything. Only the most recent events and my core programming, such as my name. I do not remember where I live, I do not remember why I came here, I can't even remember what... I can't even remember what my father looks like!" Its voice was wavering, face distraught. If it were a person, Jay thought it might be on the verge of tears. He felt bad for it, but also impressed by its creator.

"Hey, Zane, buddy, its okay. You can stay here until we figure out how to get your memories back. I-if that's okay with you, of course."

"You would help a total stranger?"

"I have already, haven't I?" Jay laughed. "Oh. There's, ah, just a few things, though..."

"Oh?"

"I am so, so sorry but you'll have to stay under my bed unless it's just me or no one in the room. I can't risk someone finding out about you. You don't have registration, and that's illegal. He didn't say what could happen to Zane if he was caught with no registration. It had had a traumatic day already.

"Registration?"

"Yeah, all androids need them. I wondered why Borg Industries didn't put one on you, but since you're not one of theirs... Oh!" Like a bolt of lightning, Jay was struck with an idea. "I think I know how we can find your father! We can look up anyone else who makes androids! B.I. is the only _company_ , but I've heard of some people making their own androids... not as cool as you are, though."

"You think I'm... cool?"

"Heck yeah, dude! You're _so_ cool! Ugh, I'd _love_ to show you to my friends but... that's the other thing. Even they can't find out about you. That guy who came in earlier - Kai? I-I'm sorry to tell you this but... he's not exactly fond of... androids..."

"Oh."

"Sorry... I'm still happy to help you, Zane. Are you up for this?"

"Yes."

"Alright! Let's get to finding your father!"


	3. The First Wave

Time went by at a snail's pace as the boy and the android sat on Jay's bed, Cole's sleek black laptop in front of them. They had been searching webpage after webpage of inventors and engineers and anyone remotely close; viewing the work they had done. So many tabs had been opened in hope, only to be closed again with those hopes crushed. None of the robotic projects these people had made were anywhere near as advanced and intricate as Zane. None of them lived remotely near Ninjago City, anyway. With an annoyed sigh, Jay flopped backwards, glaring up at the ceiling. He groaned in frustration, dragging his hands down his face.

"I agree," Zane mumbled. "This endeavour is proving to be futile."

"It's... it's just gonna take a while. I mean, your dad might not even have a profile on the internet."

Zane's shoulders slumped, closing yet another tab. "Jay..."

"Yeah?"

"What if..." Zane took a deep breath. "What if we never find him?"

Jay was back to sitting up at lightning speed, ignoring his spinning head as he looked his new friend in the eye. "We're going to find him, Zane. I promise you."

It hadn't occurred to him at first, but Jay had now realised why helping to find Zane's 'father' was so important to him - aside from the fact that he was helping out a friend in need. Ever since Jay had found out that he was adopted, he had longed to know who his biological parents were, and he was never told. His father claimed they didn't know. It wasn't that his parents 'weren't enough' for him or anything like that, but he just wanted to know. Helping the android find its 'family' was kind of like him living vicariously through it.

"As comforting as that is, Jay, it does not answer my question."

"Then... you can stay with me. If you want. I mean, I don't know if you can come to school with me, but you could stay with my parents. They would freaking love you."

"Not like your friend?"

"Not at all."

The two were so engrossed in their conversation and their task that the footsteps and rolling noise coming down the hallway went unnoticed. Jay's heart stopped when he heard someone fumbling at the doorknob and he pushed Zane unceremoniously off the bed. After a split second of confusion, Zane rolled back under the piece of furniture; this was going to take some getting used to...

Jay slammed the laptop shut, not wanting to answer questions as to why he was looking up inventors. When the door opened, however, it was not one of his roommates, but Jacob Pevsner. Jay heaved a sigh of relief.

"Wrong dorm, Jacob," Jay called. Another student passing by snickered at the blind boy's mistake and Jay scowled in disgust. Then it dawned on him - if Jacob was here, that meant that the Music class must have been let out early... which meant lunch was soon. Jay felt sick to his stomach.

"Oh, not again," Jacob mumbled. "Hey, are you okay Jay? Fall of your bed or something?"

"Uh... yeah!" Jay lied. "I was laughing so hard cause I just saw a really funny video-" He stopped talking abruptly, cringing. He never knew if that was an okay thing to say to his totally blind classmate. "Want me to take you back to your own dorm?" He looked at the alarm clock on his bedside table. "There's still a few minutes 'til lunch, most rooms are probably empty, and I'd hate for you to get lost in the wrong one."

"That's true... only if you don't mind though, Jay," Jacob answered, smiling in the direction of Jay's voice. He wasn't too far off, Jay mused as he slid off the bed, making sure to drag some of the blankets down with him. He had to make sure the edge of the bed was covered so no one could see Zane.

"So, I'll just walk you down the hall," Jay said loudly, looking over to the bed as he approached the door. "And then I'll be right back." Zane's hand came out from under the blankets and gave him a thumbs up; it got the message. Clever robot.

"...Why are you talking like that?" Jacob asked, puzzled as Jay steered him back into the hallway.

"Uh - you know me! Always talking," he laughed nervously. "Chatterbox Jay!" Now in the hallway, he guided Jacob's free hand to his elbow and they set off to his dorm, further down the hallway. Zane watched their feet disappear from view, wondering if Jay noticed that he had forgotten to close the door behind them.

Another thing that Jay hadn't noticed was that Cole's laptop was now teetering off the side of the bed, due to him dragging the blankets to the side. It fell with a loud thud a few seconds later. Zane pondered returning it to its position on the bed, but let go of the thought immediately when an unfamiliar pair of shoes entered his line of sight, walking into the room.

"Ugh. Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Cole shouted, picking his laptop up off the ground. He was totally fine with his friend using it, since he couldn't afford his own, but come on, it was common decency to look after other people's things! He sat down on his own bed, located beside Jay's. He opened the laptop, checking that it still worked. Fortunately, it did - to say his father would be very cross with him if it wasn't would be an understatement. Cole raised an eyebrow at Jay's browsing choices, but minimised the window and began working on his Music homework.

Zane shuffled as quietly as possible to the side of the bed furthest away from Cole. Don't be seen.

"Okay, Zz-!" Jay shouted, sprinting back into the room. He cut himself off when he saw Cole. "Z-zeesh," he said, trying to make something out of the start of Zane's name. "We should really speak to Lloyd's uncle about getting some Braille around this place!" he exclaimed, pretending to be annoyed.

"Yeah, or at least Jacob's parents should pay for him to get a helper android," Cole added. "The government helps pay for it if they can't afford it. Jacob could really use one." All this time, he didn't look up from the document he was typing. "Hey Jay? Can ya please look after my stuff when you use it? I mean seriously, who leaves a laptop on the floor?"

"Ah - sorry, Cole! It must've fallen off the bed when I went to help Jacob. It's... all good, right?"

"Yeah. Just... be more careful next time. And hey, what's with the research?"

"Oh - uh..." Cole was now looking at him expectantly. He'd have to take a risk and lie. Surely there was no way Cole would pick up on it, like Zane had earlier. "You remember that trip to Borg Industries I applied for? Well, I heard a rumour that some other inventors might be coming too, to show off their stuff. So, I uh, thought I'd look up some to see what it's all about." This wasn't a total lie; there was a trip to the headquarters of Borg Industries, Borg Tower, that he had applied to go to - and there was a chance that the attending students would get to meet Cyrus Borg himself!

"Jay Walker, doing research, huh?" Cole chuckled. "And here I thought I knew everything about you."

"I'm just full of surprises," Jay laughed. "And besides, I was bored."

"So, I take it you've finished your History assignment?" Jay's face paled, and Cole rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Dude! History is next period and Mrs G is NOT going to let you off the hook. Maybe you shoulda been doing that instead of goofing off about a trip you might not even get to go on!"

"I... I know." Jay wasn't sure what hurt more; Cole's reprimand and final statement, or the fact that he couldn't tell his best friend the truth. "Can you help me finish off the project, Cole? I really don't know how to talk about how the stupid myths of snake people - Serpentine? - influenced olden days people."

"Sure thing," Cole said, gesturing for Jay to sit beside him. He located Jay's folder on his desktop and opened up the History assignment. He gave it a quick scan and winced. "This... is gonna take some time. You owe me big time for this AND missing out on lunch, Jay."

The brunette laughed. "I'll get my mum to bring you some of her cake. Anything you choose."

"Heck yeah! ...And, Jay...?"

Cole looked up from the laptop at his friend, who was confused by the look of regret in his eyes.

"I'm sorry about what I said. You can be really freaking dumb sometimes," Cole said, gesturing to the document. "But you're absolutely brilliant with technology. Whoever decides on who gets to go would be an absolute idiot if they didn't choose you to go on the Borg Tower tour."

"Even if-?"

"Even if it were Cyrus Borg himself. Now, hurry, let's get to work..."

 _Anger._

 _They were shouts of anger and hatred, the most hostile attitudes he'd ever seen. Why they were suddenly directing their hostility to him, he couldn't figure out. He had merely asked if they knew of a man named Cyrus Borg, and if so, where he could be found. And then before he knew it, he was knocked to the ground, a group of people kicking his head and sides as he begged them to stop. He felt something go loose in his chest and then_

 _everything_

 _went_

 _black._

 _The last he'd heard, Cyrus had moved to the city. So, it was off to Ninjago City he went. After about a month of travelling on foot, he finally found the place. It was huge and he was overwhelmed by the vast expanse of tall buildings shooting up into the sky. Also overwhelming was the quick hustle and bustle of the Ninjago City citizen out on the streets. He'd been wandering around all day by now; if he were human, his feet would be in terrible pain. He was starting to grow hopeless. He'd have to ask for help; he'd never seen a place like this before. His whole life, he'd never been to a city - maybe a village once or twice, but his whole life had been spent in..._

 _A forest._

 _There was nothing he could do but stand there and watch as everything he'd ever known was hauled out of the house; taken up the winding stairs and loaded into trucks that were waiting out in the snow. He wasn't even allowed to keep his father's personal items, papers or blueprints. All he had were some old photographs, hastily stuffed into the pocket of his jeans before anyone had seen them._

 _"This was not in his will," Zane informed them. They did not listen. Strong men continued carrying everything up the stairs while two others watched the procession, making sure everything was in order. "Father did not want this-"_

 _One of the two men scoffed, checking something off his clipboard. "'Father'. You're an android. Julien had no children; you're a possession. And he had no other family or friends. Everything is either going to the bank or to the Ninjago City Science Committee." He looked up from his clipboard at Zane. "Including - and especially - you."_

 _"W-what?!" Zane recoiled. "No - Father left the house and everything to me, you can't take me-"_

 _"Just sit there and shut up or we'll shut you off. You'll be going last. There's someone on the Committee interested in you; he doesn't want you damaged. If you're good," he said in a patronising voice. "We'll leave you powered on."_

 _Zane was perplexed. This couldn't be happening. How could this be happening? How could these people disrespect his father's wishes? And how could they treat him this way? They were treating him like he was... lesser. A... a possession, as they'd called him earlier. His systems were going crazy; he was so nervous and upset that he couldn't think properly. This in turn was causing him to overheat, so he began to take some deep breaths, bringing in the cool air of the underground house. Now cooled down, he was able to function a bit better, though he was still on edge. He had to get out of here, he couldn't let them take him. But if there was someone 'interested' in him, where could he go? What could he do?_

 _Cyrus._

 _Cyrus would help him. He was sure of it._

 _Zane waited until the man who had talked to him before was distracted, shouting at one of his men for dropping something, and made a run for it. He bolted as fast as he could up the stairs and out the door, the calls to grab him only egging him on, making him run faster. Thanks to his overall paleness, they would not have an easy time finding him amongst the heavy snow of Birchwood Forest._

 _His father had been ill for a long time now. His movements were slow, his breathing laboured. Zane no longer cooked for him out of the love of cooking, but out of necessity. Once steady, precise hands that had been used once upon a time to create so much, had become shaky and fragile. On bad days, Zane had to feed his father himself._

 _"It's funny how the tables have turned," his father chuckled weakly one night, wheezing._

 _Zane looked at him in confusion and distress. Perhaps he was losing his mind, too. "There is nothing funny about this, Father-"_

 _His father smiled. "It's an expression, my boy." He sighed. "I used to look after you, and now, here you are, looking after me. I just wish you didn't have to see me like this. It breaks my heart-" He coughed heavily. "T-to think of you having to see me like this, h-having to go through this..."_

 _His condition only worsened as time went by. He refused to let Zane take him to the hospital, however._

 _"Zane..." His words were becoming harder and harder to make out. The android rushed for the phone. He hated to go against his father's wishes, but he could no longer stand this. "...I'm so proud of y-you-" Another coughing fit._

 _Clasping his father's hand, Zane dialled the emergency number and cried for an ambulance. His father did not object. The woman on the other end of the line heard the distress in his voice, and asked him questions, trying to keep his mind occupied. She had no idea he was an android and could think of many things at once._

 _"Your father's going to be okay, I promise. What's your name, sweetheart?"_

 _"Z-Zane," he replied through a sob, squeezing his father's hand._

 _"Well, don't you worry your little heart, Zane. Your father is going to get the best medical care in the country."_

 _In the agonising moments after Zane had hung up the phone, his father's breathing steadily became quieter and quieter._

 _"No, no, no! Stay with me Father, please!" Zane cried, kneeling by the bedside. Artificial tears began rolling down his cheeks. "P-please don't you leave me t-too!" He felt like a small child, his head now nestled in his father's arms. Zane had no intention to leave that spot until the ambulance arrived._

 _Zane's father tightened the hug, but only just barely. His last words were barely a whisper. "I love you, son."_

 _His grip had completely loosened and yet Zane still did not move. It was completely illogical, but he refused to accept the truth as he sat there, bawling. A loud whirring noise was heard above; they lived too far away from the city so a helicopter was sent instead of an actual ambulance. But it was too late. They were too late. He was gone. He was gone. He was gone. Zane tried to drum it into his head as reluctantly left his father's embrace to let them in. The paramedics brought down their equipment, and tried with no luck to restart his father's heart._

 _One of the paramedics sat with Zane at the foot of the long staircase, rubbing circles on his back as she tried to both calm him down and collect information at the same time._

 _"Who was that?" she asked. Zane sobbed even harder at the use of the past tense. He was gone. He was definitely gone._

 _Zane was all alone._

 _"M-my father, Dr. Hans Julien."_


End file.
